Railway safety device



W. A. AND C. N. ROCKWELL.

RAILWAY SAFETY DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. a, 1911.

1,339, 1 36. Patented May 4, 1920.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WELCOME A. ROCKWELL AND CHRISTOPHER N. ROCKWELL, 0F GROTO'N, CONNECTICUT.

RAILWAY sAEETY DEVICE.

Patented May 4, 1920.

Application filed March 8, 1917. Serial No. 153,364.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WELCOME AI Roon- WELL and CHRISTOPHER N. RocKwELL, citi Zens of the United States, both residing at Groton, in the county of New London, in the State of Connecticut, have jointly invented a; certain new and useful Improvement in Railway Safety Devices, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

The object of this inven ion is to provide simple but effective means for automatically stopping a railway train, by setting the airbrakes, and shutting off the steam or other motive power, in the event that stop signals are set against said train and are disregarded by the engineer or motorman; our said invention, briefly described, compris ing safety mechanism which may be readily and cheaply applied to engines of ordinary construction and which may be safely operated by an obstruction placed in the path of the said safety mechanism as, for example, an obstruction which may be connected with, andset automatically by the setting of the customary semaphore signal arm. a

In order to explain our invention clearly we have provided the annexed drawings, in which Figurel is a side elevation of the boiler of a steam locomotive showing the locationthereon of safety mechanism embodying our present improvements, and Fig. 2 isa plan view of a portion of the boiler showing the steam dome mounted thereon and showing also themajor part of the special mechanism provided by us for the operation of the safety devices.

Fig. 3 is a relatively enlarged side view of said safety devices and Fig. 4c is an elevation of a signal post havingmou nted thereon a special form of obstruction for operating our said safety mechanism. V

Fig. 5 is a detail giving a plan view of the mechanism for operating the brake control valve, and Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional detail through said valve.

Fig. 7

actuating said valve. Referringto these 10 indicates the boiler of a steam locomotive, 11 denotes the customary steam dome and 12 denotes the running boards locate on opposite sides of the boiler, v

' upward.

- minating is a horizontal. sectional'detail through the cam which moves the rodfor I rod upwardto normal position,

drawings the numeral trated 'in- Fig. 3

wardfwhenever a danger or v Within'thesteam dome 11 is the customary throttle valve 13 which is mounted to slide horizontally on a suitable seat 1 1 and 15 connected, in the usual manner, by a link 15, with one end of a lever 16 which is operable by the engineers throttle lever, in the customary manner but, inasmuch as the manual operation of the valve 13 has no special relation to our present invention, we have-deemed it unnecessary to describe or illustrate it in full. v

Overlying the throttle valve 13 is a valve plate 13 adapted to be moved to cover or uncover the port in the throttle valve. Connected with said plate is one end of a link 17, and pivoted to the other end of said link is an arm 18 that is fixedly secured to one end of a rock-shaft 19 whose other end portion extends outward, through the wall of dome 11, and has secured thereto an arm 20 that is also pinned to a vertical rod 21 that bearings 2223 in a housing .24 as here illustrated. In order to retain the rod 21 normally in its'uppermost position we have fixed on said rod a collar 25 and have interposed between said collar and the bearing 23 a stiff spiral spring 26 which seeks, with a constant expansive force, to force the rod 21 On the said rod 21 is fixed an angular offset 27 havingan outer edge portion that is beveled to engagethe beveled free end of; a bolt 28 which'is' slidably mounted, as here shown, in stands or bearings 29-30 in the housing 24, the other end of the said bolt extended through the housing and terin a suitable operating handle 31 of which the bolt may be drawn being by means outward, against the resisting force of a spring 32 mounted on said bolt, as will be understood by reference to Fig. 3 of the drawings] When the vertical rod 21 is forced downward, the beveled edge of the offset 27 forces the bolt 28 outward until the offset 'passesthe lower edge of the bolt when the spring I I offset and thus locks therod 21 in its lower.

32 snaps the bolt end over the the bolt is withthe said as illusposition until'such time as H drawn when the'spring 26 forces of the drawings. 7

We will now describe the means provided for automatically forcing the rod 21 downstop signal is set against the train. The numeral 33 indicates a signal pole at the track side, 34 the customary semaphore signal arm, and 35 a similar arm which, when it is raised to a horizontal position, is at such a height that its under side will engage the upper edge of an inclined bar 36 which is pivoted to a stand 37 mounted on the boiler; the free end portion of said bar being pivoted to the upper end of the vertical rod 21, the arrangement of parts being such that, when the arm 35 is engaged by the inclined bar 36, the said bar and the connected rod 21 will be forced downward.

As the train speeds 011, and the arm 35 passes beyond the inclined bar 36, the bolt 28 will hold the said rod in its lowermost position. In order to reduce to the minimum the friction which would result from the rubbing of the bar 36 along the under side of the arm 35 we, preferably, provide on the said arm an idle roller 38. 7

Within the housing 24 is a valve case 39 in which is located a three-way valve 39 whose stem has mounted thereon an arm 40 which is connected by a crank 41 with the angular slotted end of a longitudinally slidable rod 42 supported in a guide 43, the other end of said rod 42 having mounted thereon a roll 43 which engages the cam surface 44of an extension 45 secured to or formed on the vertical rod 21; the described construction being such that, when the rod 21 moves downward, the rod 42 will be forced away from the rod 21 and will thus rock the valve 39*.

Leadin outward from the valve case 39, and out through the housing 24, are pipes 46 and 47, the former of which is connected with the compressed air-supply tank and the latter (47) leads into a check-valve box 48 and thence through the air pipe 49 to the usual brake-operating cylinder 50. The case 39 is also provided with an exhaust or relief opening 39*.

In the box 48 is a check valve 51 in which I is a small opening 52.

We will now describe briefly the operation of our improved device.

As the engine'pas'ses an arm 35 which has been set against the train, the inclined bar 36 and the connected rod 21 are forced downward and the said rod is locked in its lowered position by the bolt 28. By the same movements the cam surface 44 slides the rod 42 and thus turns the three-way valve in the case 39 so as to close the relief port 39, andto open the ports leading to pipes 46 and 47, thus admitting air, under pressure, throughpipe '46 and permitting V the air to p'a'ssout through the'pipe 47. So

soon as the air pressure affects the valve 51in the valve box or case 48' said'c'heck valve closes autom ticallybm the air then escapes, in a "restricted velume, through" "the small bleed opening 52, thus gradually entering the cylinder 50, resulting in setting the brakes gradually instead of with an objectionable. and perhaps dangerous, suddenness and shock; in fact, setting the brakes practically the same as if they were set manually by the engineer.

At the same instant of time, when the air is thus released to begin to set the brakes, the valve plate 13 is slid over the throttle valve 13 so as to shutoff the steam from the engine cylinders, whatever the position of the throttle.

It will thus be seen that our described mechanism operates automatically to" shut off the motive power and, simultaneously, to apply the air-controlled brakes-with an easy and safe action.

Having thus describedour invention, and the manner in which the same operates, we claim as new and'wish to secure by Letters latent:- V

l. A train controlling apparatus for the throttle valve within the steam dome of a locomotive, the same includinga valve plate slidable over the throttle for controlling the How of steam therethrough, a rock shaft ex locomotive, the same including a valve plate for controlling the flow of steam through the throttle valve, a rock shaft extending transversely through the steam dome, a rod mounted for vertical sliding movement at one side of the steam dome, crank connections between said shaft and rod and between said shaft and valve plate, a lever pivoted to the locomotive and to said vertical rod and engageable by an obstruction carried at the track-side to depress the rod, a head on the 7 lower end of the rod having a cam surface at one side thereof, and a bolt resiliently urged against said cam surface and engage:

able with'the top of the headupon the descent thereof to hold the rod in depressed position. V 7

3. A't-r'ain controlling apparatus comprise ing a vertically sli'da'ble rod carried at one side of the steam dome of a locomotive, .a

shaft connected with saidrod and "extended 7 into 'the'steam' dome, me ansoperableiby said 7 shaft" "for closing "the steam gdome valve, means for. actuating the air brake lever of the locomotive "includin a three-way valve,

a cam head on the rod, means for actuating said three-way valve comprising a slidab-le member connected therewith and engageable by said cam head upon descent of the rod, and means disposed at the track-side for depressing said rod.

4. A train controlling apparatus comprising a rod movably carried by a locomotive, means operable by the movement of said rod for closing the steam dome valve, means for actuating the air brake lever of the locomotive including a control valve, a cam head on the rod, a slidable member connected with the control valve and engageable by said cam head upon descent of the rod, and

WELCOME A. ROCKWELL. CHRISTOPHER N. ROCKWELL. 

